Terrestrial radio – AM and FM broadcasting – gets a bad rap from many who either comment on electronic media or have moved on to online radio. But it also has its supporters, so this week we hear from both sides. First, the criticisms from Ken Levine, writer-producer-director and major league baseball announcer who writes at kenlevine.blogspot.com:

"For almost a hundred years terrestrial radio has ruled the airwaves. My first love (besides Natalie Wood) is radio. That's why it really pains me to not only see it heading towards its own demise but sprinting.

"Now we have satellite radio (such as it is), Internet radio, music services like Pandora, our own playlists. At one time the only way you could hear the hits was to tune to a terrestrial station or maybe two. Now there are literally thousands of alternatives. On iTunes radio there are 543 stations streaming Top 40/pop music. Right this minute a Lady Gaga song is on 523 of them. There's probably a 24/7 station that plays nothing but Spandau Ballet – and they only had one hit.

"So how does terrestrial radio deal with this? By ignoring it. By increasing their commercial load. What's the single biggest complaint listeners have about terrestrial radio? No. Rush Limbaugh is number two. Commercials! Of course! So to counter-program all these alternative delivery systems they just add more commercials. Do stations know they're mortgaging their future? Of course. But they don't care. They just want to bring in a profit now. In their list of priorities, the listener falls right below watering the plants in the lobby."

Now the other side from those who support traditional radio:

Doug McIntyre, KABC/790 AM: "290 million people a week listen to the radio, the vast majority of which are listening to terrestrial radio. That's a bigger aggregate audience than television and much, much larger than movies. Traditional radio is far from dead. However, it could be so much more if the handcuffs were taken off and radio storytellers were allowed more creative freedom. Just one man's opinion, but I think we've become slaves to format and lost sight of the golden rule of entertainment – whatever you do, don't be boring!

"I'll leave discussions of mergers and debt service and the financial pressures on ownership groups to folks better informed than I. But to paraphrase Sam Clemens, the reports of radio's demise are greatly exaggerated."

Gary W. Bryan, K-Earth 101: "How can you ask that? When terrestrial radio is listened to by 93%-95% of Americans every week! In fact, radio is the medium that has been least affected by other, newer mediums. That's primarily because of in-car listening. Certainly satellite radio is far less of a factor than many predicted, and even devices that play MP3s haven't displaced live and local radio entertainment."

Tim Conway, Jr., KFI/640 AM: "Radio broke the name Christopher Dorner, carried live interviews from crippled cruise ship Triumph, and bested TV in reporting the asteroid that hit Russia. 'The Today Show' even gave KFI credit for being the first media outlet to talk to the Big Bear resident that was carjacked by Christopher Dorner."

NEXT WEEK: Tom Leykis tells the story behind his success in reaching an estimated 3 million listeners on his daily online radio show.

ESPN 710 AM anchor Dave Joseph is the new public address announcer for the Los Angeles Kings. He replaces the late David Courtney. Joseph covered the Kings for the last 12 seasons and was Courtney's backup and reported protégé. Joseph told FishbowlLA, "David was with the Kings for 25 years. He was a legend. Not only did he do the Kings, he did the Clippers, Angels. People get to know his voice and they feel a kind of warmness when they go into Staples Center. For him to pass away and to fill that spot is extremely conflicting.

"I'm trying to call the game or do the PA the way I would do it, I was trained by David, so the guidelines I follow are all because of David. When he would call a goal, David would call it in his own way. When I call a goal, it's similar to David, but I hesitate to pay tribute because I don't think I could do that justice."

Related Links

Tim Conway Jr., KFI/640 AM, supports terrestrial radio, saying, "Radio broke the name Christopher Dorner, carried live interviews from crippled cruise ship Triumph and bested TV in reporting the asteroid that hit Russia." FILE PHOTO: ROSE PALMISANO, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Doug McIntyre, KABC/790 AM: "290 million people a week listen to the radio, the vast majority of which are listening to terrestrial radio-- That's a bigger aggregate audience than television and much, much larger than movies. Traditional radio is far from dead." FILE PHOTO: THE REGISTER
Gary W. Bryan, K-Earth 101 defends terrestrial radio, saying it "is listened to by 93%-95% of Americans every week! In fact, radio is the medium that has been least affected by other, newer mediums. That's primarily because of in-car listening." FILE PHOTO: MICHAEL GOULDING, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Johnny Mathis will be honored by Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters on March 1 and will be featured by Wink Martindale on his third radio special to air March 16-17 on crntalk.com. FILE PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

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